Everything Is Not What It Seems
by Ottsel Cath
Summary: All Evie wanted was to cheer Zac up. She wanted to make him feel better, because he had been acting weird ever since his camping trip on Mako Island. She never expected to find him with another girl, well, that's what she thought. Maybe his secret was something else. Set during the episode Zac's Pool Party.


**Everything Is Not What It Seems**

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Keeping the secret was the hardest part about being a merman. It made Zac lie to everyone he loved, from his parents to Evie. Even if he only had been a merman for two weeks, it was already slowly killing him. He kept arguing with his best mate and he slowly drove away from his girlfriend, who he did really love.

He did not expect to be in the situation he was right now. Evie had thrown him a surprise pool party to try and cheer him up since he had been acting differently. Zac thought the idea was really sweet, but a pool party was not the best idea for him. He really did not want to risk exposing the biggest secret of his life, but he did.

He got into an argument with Cam, like they did ever since he got his tail, but this time, Cam pushed him into the pool. It only took a couple of seconds for his tail to appear. What he did not expect was to find three girls right by the pool when he surfaced and gripped the edge of the pool to pull himself out.

They were practically stranger to him; they had discovered his secret anyway. He did not know that they were like him though and that they knew all along about what happened to him. The girls acted as if it was the biggest discovery of their life to get Zac to trust him.

That's how he found himself sitting on the jetty behind his house explaining what happened to him to three strangers.

"I know this must be freaking you out." He said to the three girls thinking they did not know about merpeople. Zac was really uncomfortable.

He stared at the deep blue instead of the girls with his knees pulled to his chest.

He took a deep breath. "It happened on Mako Island. Me and Cam were camping there one night and, I saw this light coming from a cave in some rocks and I went in."

"And?" Lyla asked the boy.

Zac shook his head. "It's all I remember."

What the four people did not know was that Evie was slowly walking on the jetty to join them. She was really upset about what happened earlier.

"When was it?" Sirena asked Zac.

"It was a while ago. It was full moon." He said looking at Lyla who said the full moon always made her feel different earlier that day.

"There you are." Evie said more than happy to disrupt their little conversation.

Everyone stood to look at Evie.

"What's going on?" She asked thinking she just busted him.

Zac shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing, just chatting."

"We were just thanking Zac for the party, that's all." Lyla said to relieve the tension that was forming between all of them. "We're going now."

The three mermaids started to walk away, but Lyla turned around to say something.

"About that stuff before, don't worry, we're good."

"What did that mean?" Evie asked dryly.

"Don't know, nothing." Zac said immediately.

"Are you seeing her?" Evie asked the boy in front of her.

"What? No way." Zac said to his girlfriend. He knew he was in trouble for lying to her about the new development, but he never thought she would accuse him of cheating.

"That's how it looks, Zac." She told the merman.

"You're wrong." He answered her.

"We've never had secrets before." Evie said in a disappointed tone.

"I'm not lying to you." Zac said lying through his teeth.

"I really hope not." Evie warned him.

She stared at him for a split second and then she walked away.

Why did his life have to get so complicated in so little time? How could one night change the course of his life forever? Zac knew that he did not want to live like this forever. He knew he could not lie to her his entire life. She would dump him eventually realizing he'd done nothing but lie to her. That's why he found himself asking Evie to wait.

"What?" She answered dryly, again.

"Cam is right; I can't keep lying to you." Zac said.

"You are seeing her." Evie said disgusted.

"No, that's not it at all, but you have every right to know what's going on with me." Zac said suddenly feeling really nervous.

"What can possibly be happening then?" Evie asked.

Zac sat on the edge of the pier and motioned for Evie to join him.

"Remember when I went camping on Mako with Cam two weeks ago?" He asked his girlfriend carefully.

"How can I forget? You've been acting strange ever since you went on that trip." Evie stated.

"Something happened to me out there." Zac said. "It turned my life upside down."

"How can an island filled with bugs and trees turn your life upside down?" Evie asked.

"My memories of what happened are still very blurry, but I remember entering a cave with a strange light during the night and then I woke up on the beach the morning after." Zac explained.

"Where are you going with this?" Evie asked.

"When we got back here, I tried to rinse a fishing rod, but I ended up bending the stream of water." Zac said.

"Bending?" Evie repeated as she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, like that." Zac said. He raised his hand and a bubble made out of only water rose from the water in front of the jetty.

"Did you do that?" Evie asked as she stared at the flying water.

Zac put his hand back on the jetty and the flying water fell in the canal.

"It turned out I had powers." Zac said.

"But how?" Evie asked.

"I don't know, but that's not all." Zac said.

"You have magic and there is more?" Evie asked.

"Yeah, well, I tried my powers again on a hose to show Cam, but it did not work. When I tried again alone, it worked, but the stream was so strong I fell into the canal near the café. About ten seconds after I fell in the water, a blue tail replaced my legs." Zac explained to his girlfriend.

"A blue tail?" Evie repeated confused. "Like a mermaid?"

"Yeah." Zac responded to the brunette

"But Zac, that's impossible." Evie tried to reason him.

"You just saw me use magic and you doubt that I turned into a merman?" Zac asked.

"I know, but it all seems so improbable." Evie stated.

"I know. It was a shock at first for me too." Zac said.

"I want proof." Evie demanded.

"Fair enough." Zac responded to his girlfriend.

He stood and dived in the water immediately. He felt the water around him and the magic enveloping him. He felt his legs fuse into one strong merman tail and then he swam back up for his girlfriend to see his tail.

He was actually quite nervous about his girlfriend's reaction. What if she did not want to stick around anymore? What if she dumped him?

Evie stood and put a hand in front of her mouth in surprise.

"You were telling the truth." She realized. "I'm sorry for doubting you."

Zac just smiled as a response.

He pulled himself on the jetty to dry his tail. Evie stared at it in fascination. It's not everyday that you see a merman, but she happened to date one.

"This is incredible." Evie said to her boyfriend. "Do you have any idea what might have caused this?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I know it has something to do with Mako and that it has something to do with the full moon." Zac mentioned.

"Wait, full moon?" Evie asked. "You were talking about the full moon with the three girls before I arrived."

Zac's eyes widened. She just figured out they knew about him.

"You told them before telling me?" Evie asked angrily.

"No. It's not what happened." Zac defended.

"But they found out before me? You trust them, but not me? You were willing to lie to me, but not to them?" Evie asked.

"Evie-"

"Save it. I'm leaving." Evie said.

"Evie." Zac called after her, but she did not listen to him. She was furious.

Zac dried his tail and walked to his little bungalow.

"I really messed up, didn't I?" He asked himself.

Zac knew that he needed to tell her what actually happened and that he never intended to tell his secret to those three girls. He did not even know them. They were practically strangers. He needed to tell Evie this was just a big misunderstanding and that it was Cam's fault. He pushed him into the pool for Santos' nieces to find him.

Zac immediately out of his bungalow and walked to the café. He knew Evie would be there taking care of her shop. She always did that when she was mad. She just kept folding and unfolding the clothes until it was perfect in her eyes. He just knew he would find her there and he did.

"Evie." He said in a calm tone. She ignored him. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, but you need to know the truth."

"What truth? The one where you trust strangers more than me or the one where you intended to lie to me?" Evie said harshly.

"I was wrong to lie to you. I'm so sorry, but could we please talk outside?" Zac demanded almost desperately.

"Fine." Evie responded dryly.

The two teenagers both walked to the edge of the café's outside tables and they both looked at the deep blue.

"I never wanted them to find out about me." Zac said to reassure his girlfriend. "Cam and I were arguing about what happened to me and he ended up pushing me in the pool. The three girls were passing by at that moment. They saw me. I never wanted them to see me. It's Cam's fault."

"I get that part, but you still lied to me and you hesitated before telling me the truth today." Evie said. "Do you have any idea how much that hurt me? I'm your girlfriend, you're supposed to trust me. We are partners. Couples don't lie to each other."

"I know and that was so wrong. I should have told you the truth from the beginning." Zac said.

"Why didn't you?" Evie asked.

"I was scared I'd lose you." Zac admitted.

"What?" Evie asked.

"I was scared you wouldn't stick around anymore since I am part fish. I'm a freak now." Zac said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"That's crazy." Evie whispered. "Just because you've become a merman, it doesn't mean you're a different person."

"I guess." Zac responded.

"Look at me." Evie demanded. "I'm sure it's really hard to go through what happened to you, but I'm here to support you. I wanna help you. That is what I am here for."

"Thank you, Evie." Zac said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"Anyway, I'd still love you if you were a full time merman." Evie said to her boyfriend.

Zac smiled at the brunette. "I love you too."

When they pulled apart, Evie kissed him on the cheek.

"Now, why don't you show me all the magic you can do?" Evie asked and smiled genuinely.

"Come at my place tonight, I'll show you." Zac said.

"Maybe we could even dive together eventually." Evie said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." Zac said with a huge smile.

"And you thought I wouldn't stick around." Evie said to tease him.

"We're going to have so much fun." Zac said.

At the end of the day, Zac realized how wrong he was about not telling Evie and he was really glad she knew about him. He did not have to lie to her anymore and they could do all sorts of amazing things together now including his new abilities. What they did not know was how many adventures were ahead of them and how both of their life would change drastically.

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 **I hope you guys enjoyed this little one-shot about Zac and Evie during the episode Zac's Pool Party. I really enjoyed writing it! I always wondered what would have happened if Zac told Evie from the beginning, so I might continue this sometime. Peace out :)**


End file.
